Washington and Havana will discuss the Cuban immigration wave this week

Officers United States And Cuba will meet in Washington on Thursday to discuss MigrationOfficials familiar with the matter told Reuters. This is the highest level of formal negotiations between Washington and Havana since President Joe Biden took office last year.

The meeting takes place at a time The US government is dealing with an increasing number Immigrants Trying to cross the border from MexicoThis is where the Cubans are growing.

The Cuban delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cosio, two sources said.

He is expected to meet with senior officials from the US State Department and other organizations in Washington.

America loves Havana I agree to receive deported immigrantsAnother source said an American official was also named.

The island government has blamed the United States for increasing irregular migration after the Donald Trump administration decided to close its embassy in Havana after the first cases of “Havana Syndrome” were reported.

Managua, a close ally of Havana, says regime officials will support “orderly and secure” immigration when hundreds of thousands of people leave the country after the visa requirement for Cubans is lifted by the end of 2021.

The U.S. State Department said last month that it would begin processing some visas for Cubans at its embassy in Havana to reduce the backlog of immigration documents after a four-year hiatus.

“We have seen a significant increase in illegal Cuban immigration to the United States by land and sea,” a State Department spokesman said. Answers to Reuters questions.

“The Cubans are currently the second largest group coming to the southwestern border of the United States,” he said.

A spokesman declined to confirm the scheduled meeting, but said “we continue to engage with Cuban officials on issues of importance to the US government, such as human rights and migration.”

The Cuban government did not immediately respond to Reuters questions.

Thursday’s talks, however, appear to be at a higher level than previous formal contacts since US President Joe Biden took office last year.

The meeting in Washington is scheduled for a day after US Secretary of State Anthony Blingen and his regional colleagues convened a conference on migration in Panama, to which Havana has not been invited.

The number of Cubans detained along the US-Mexico border rose to 16,531 in February.Maximum number recorded in a single month, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

The average number of Cubans seen at the border in seven days rose from about 600 on February 26 to 1,300 on April 16, according to U.S. domestic data.